A wide range of different types of goggles are available for snowsports. In producing such a pair of goggles, there are a number of points which must be taken into consideration.
Falls and collisions are relatively common in snowsports, and goggles must be robust enough to stay intact and correctly positioned in most collisions. For this reason, it is common to make the frame of the goggle from a flexible plastics material, which can flex in response to external twisting forces. This makes the frame unlikely to crack or break in a collision.
The lens of the goggle is usually relatively rigid, and is generally made from polycarbonate. This material is highly resistant to impact, and has excellent UV-protection properties and optical clarity.
Lenses are available in different tints and colours, and different lenses are designed for the best performance in different weather conditions. A skier who skis in a range of different conditions will therefore want a range of different lenses. To avoid the bulk and expense of multiple pairs of goggles, goggles with interchangeable lenses are preferred, and preferably the lens is able to be swapped over as quickly and easily as possible.
Existing interchangeable lens systems include, for example, clips, magnets, or other releasable retaining means to keep the lens in place on the frame of the goggle. However, the problem with existing goggles is that providing a quick-release system for changing the lens means compromising on other factors. Goggles with a quick-release lens system tend to be more likely to come apart in a collision, which is inconvenient at best, but can also mean loss of an expensive lens, or even physical injury since the eyes will be unprotected once the lens falls away.
One common way of releasably attaching a lens to a frame is with magnets around the inner rim of the lens, which attract magnets or magnetic elements on the frame. However, as well as being prone to failure in a collision, this type of goggle is found to be particularly prone to fogging of the lens. This is because the positioning of the magnets on the lens obstructs the optimal locations for ventilation slits, which in other types of goggles would be provided to avoid fogging.
It is an object of the invention to reduce or substantially obviate the above mentioned problems.